25 May Sydney Uni Ready to Roar
2024 MVP Hannah Dodd has wasted little time in her return from Germany, suiting up alongside some of her Sydney Uni teammates during round one of the NSW Waratah League on Saturday.
“It was very fun to play a few games, especially with my mum on court with me for the first time,” said Dodd.
“Got to see some of our rookies which was good and catch up with some of the experienced girls and check in and see how everyone is feeling before next week.”
Dodd played for Central Coast Waves alongside Stephanie van Leeuwen and Mikayla Tuppurainen. Also, taking the court was Patricia Luff and Tracey Carruthers for Sutherland, while Breanna Fisk and new recruit Didem Yildirim played in Division 1.
It comes just a week ahead of round one of the Women’s National Wheelchair Basketball League and the start of Sydney Uni’s title defence.
Annabelle Lindsay, Brodie Palmer and Liesl Tesch have all departed the club, signaling a new era for the team.
“Obviously losing two of our main bigs is going to have an impact but we have some new bigs coming in that have talent and again with experienced lows and mids that we have will help reduce the impact of losing Belle, Brodie and Liesl.”
“We have quite a few rookies this year so it will be a big learning curve for a lot of the players but we have a solid core of experienced players to help out so I think we will still have the ability to be competitive.”
Not only does Sydney Uni have a new look roster, they also have a new identity, relinquishing the Flames moniker in favour of the Lions. The name change comes as the governing body for wheelchair sports in New South Wales takes a more hands-on role with the club.
“Wheelchair Sports NSW/ACT are really committed to wheelchair basketball at Sydney University, we had an opportunity to join with the basketball club at Sydney University to make sure our team feels very much a part of that club as well,” said Wheelchair Sports NSW/ACT CEO Mick Garnett.
“The Flames is no longer a brand within Sydney University so that meant we had to look elsewhere for a name for our team and it became quite obvious that in order to become a part of a fabric at Sydney University and open up opportunities for athletes within the University, that we become the Sydney Uni Lions.
The change is more than just branding, with plans for the wheelchair program to be further ingrained into the campus community.
“We’ve committed to Ed Smith and the team at Sydney Uni Sport and Fitness in the medium term, we want to see as many students from the university coming into the Sydney Uni Lions wheelchair basketball team as we possibly can.”
“A big part of the future of the Sydney Uni Lions is recruitment in the university student base, and watch this space.”
Wheelchair Sports NSW/ACT says it will continue to support all four NSW national league teams and the success of both the Lions and Sydney Blues is critical to the organisation’s goals around female participation.
“WSNSW/ACT is four years into our Her Sport program, inspired by the strategy by the NSW Government’s Her Sport, Her Way. In that time we’ve increased female participation in wheelchair sport from 29% of our membership to just under 38% of our membership, which we’re really proud of.”
“I want to make special mention of Sarah Stewart, Liesl Tesch and Lisa Edmonds as three people who have done enormous amounts for girls and women in the sport of wheelchair basketball.”
“I also want to mention Gerry Hewson who works with WSNSW/ACT from a recruitment point of view and makes sure at every single event that he reminds us to make space for girls and women to play wheelchair basketball.”
“We’ve really focused on making a warm and welcoming environment for women to play wheelchair basketball in. We’ve seen record participation at our wheelchair basketball Club Challenge this year over 12 rounds.”
ROUND 1 (30 May – 1 June)
Sydney Uni Lions vs Sydney Blues
Friday 7pm (6pm 3X3)
Saturday 3pm (2pm 3X3)
Sunday 9am
(SUS) Sydney Uni Sports, NSW